. >> unemployment rate came out this week, the lowest of president obama's presidency, a new poll from quinnipiac shows him at a three-year high in his approval rating. how much did those numbers play into his negotiating position? >> i think they play a lot. there's a reason why the president says sure we'll go over the cliff, this is what we're going to do and he goes right to the public. there's bad blood from last summer still in terms of how these two guys negotiate mind the scenes. secondly the president is also saying to his base i'm going to go out there and i'll be tough because i've won the election, i've got people behind me, there's popular support for tax increases and i think he takes that and uses that right now. believe me, republicans get it. they see this as numbers, they understand the impact of the election. they get that, and i think that's why they're willing to deal. >> all of this will be front and center on "meet the press." who do you have coming up? >> senator dick durbin and representative kevin mccarthy, hopefully we'll get a clearer picture beyond what we'